Maruti dedicates life to Javanese dance

By Yusuf Susilo

JAKARTA (JP): As the culture of materialism takes root here, there remains a truly dedicated artist who fiercely clings to artistic values and humanity -- Theodora Retno Maruti.

Maruti, 54, has devoted herself to classical Javanese dancing since she was 5. A dancer, a choreographer and a dance teacher, she is well-known at home and abroad.

Apart from teaching dance at the Jakarta Institute of Arts, for years Maruti has given free dance lessons every Sunday at the building housing the Padneswara dance group, often buying the drinks for her students.

In the jungle that is Jakarta, the generosity of Mbak Uti, as she is known, is something most people do not understand. This is, after all, Jakarta, where you have to pay Rp 500 every time you use a public lavatory.

It is "strange" that Maruti teaches something rare, the lofty legacy of our ancestors, for free while she could monetarily enrich herself from her work.

Many of her friends are baffled by this, including dancer and fellow IKJ lecturer Nungki Kusumastuti, who for the past five years has helped manage Padneswara. She said she has tried to "enlighten" Maruti, but invariably to no avail.

Nungki, a TV/movie/commercial star, has tried to sway Maruti because she does not want to see her always buying things for her students, because she believes they will not grow into responsible adults if someone always takes care of them.

And, she says, if Muruti collected some fees, Padneswara would have its own money. And in her opinion, if Padneswara is to develop and be able to perform twice a year, it must be financially healthy.

Nungki may be right, but Maruti has her reasons. "I appreciate the fraternity more than money. I will teach my students what I learned when I was young, also free of charge. I use this rehearsal hall for free. It would not be fair, I think, if I collect money from them. My goal is to share with other people what I know," Maruti reasoned, adding that she never placed her interest above the interests of others.

Maruti learned dancing from many teachers, including the late KRT Kusumo Kesowo (a great master at the Surakarta palace), the late R.Ay. Laksmintorukmi, the late R.Ay. Sukorini, S. Ngaliman, the late Basuki Kusworogo and Bagong Kussudihardjo. She also took traditional Javanese singing lessons from the late Bei Mardusari and Sutarman.

However, it was her father, R. Susiloatmodjo, who was a puppet master, puppetmaker, painter, engraver and dancer, who exerted the greatest influence over her. Her father had a very clear stance in his life and his art: he sided with humanity.

Philosophy

Sal Murgiyanto, an observer of the performing arts, has this to say about Maruti's father. "Just like KRT Kusumo Kesowo, Maruti's father looked at arts as two disciplines -- the mind and the physique. They give divine inspiration to our spiritual existence, which is reflected in our daily behavior. In (Susilotmodjo's) opinion, art was not to be used as a means to earn money. This explains why his family business failed to produce a handsome profit. As a member of the Javanese nobility, Susiloatmodjo's humanity exceeded his concern for money or profit. He paid his employees as if he were providing financial help to his own relatives. That is why his family business could not make progress. He really applied the Javanese saying tuna sathak bathi sanak (it is all right to lose money if you get more friends in return)."

Obviously, Maruti also adheres to this saying. She places humanity above money, which most people in Jakarta idolize.

Sentot Sudiharto, Maruti's husband, understands his wife and never tries to influence her. It is this social communication, he says, that has made his wife continue her dancing career and run Padneswara for a quarter of a century.

He who sows will reap. Maruti gives free dancing lessons; in return, many of her friends and colleagues volunteer to help her in her performances.

Sentot gave an example of this. In preparing for the performance to mark 25 years of Padneswara, many people have given a helping hand. The performance, to be held at Taman Ismail Marzuki on March 10 and March 11, is based on the story of Surapati, a 17th century hero, and involves over 50 dancers and traditional Javanese singers.

Also, he said, there have been unexpected donations: loudspeakers for rehearsals and varying amounts of cash.

The building housing Padneswara, with Maruti as the natural mother (a term artist Danarto has introduced), looks like a traditional rehearsal site. It is this nature of Padneswara, said Sardono W. Kusumo, who came to see the rehearsal at IKJ last Friday, that is the secret of Maruti's ability to help classical Javanese dance survive in the city.

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Maruti, nicknamed Limbuk, was born in Surakarta on March 8, 1947. She was raised in a family of artists in the compound of Baluwerti palace in Surakarta. When she took part in the Indonesian arts mission to Expo 1970 in Osaka, Japan, she became acquainted with Sentot Sudiharto, a fellow artist. They have one child, Rury Nostalgia, who is preparing to one day take over for her mother in preserving classical Javanese dance and running Padneswara.

According to Rury, her mother clings to the conventions of classical Javanese dance. She said her mother has been like this since Rury was a small girl. That is why Maruti has her own characteristics and is incomparable in this respect. Though following in the footsteps of her mother, Rury says she wants to be herself, a hope she will have to work hard to realize.

"My future career will be inseparable from history and legends, but still I want to breathe my own breath into my future career," she said on the sidelines of the rehearsal for Surapati.

In looking back at her 25 years with Padneswara, Maruti realized that Padneswara is her, and she is Pandneswara. This is both an advantage and a shortcoming. Therefore, in the future, she said she would concentrate on the artistic side only and leave the management to Rury and her colleagues.

She said that at present she handled the management of Padneswara along with Rury, Nungki and other artists such as Menul, Yuni and Wati.

"Now and in the future will be the opportunity for my daughter and all of you, younger sisters, to do something," said Maruti. A graduate of the Business Administration College in Surakarta, Maruti made a name as a dancer in the Ramayana dance-drama before she set up Padneswara. She often performed at the presidential palace when Sukarno, Indonesia's first president, was still in office, and went on months-long overseas tours as a member of Indonesian art missions.

Padneswara, which literally means "queen", was set up in 1976. When she founded it, she had only her strong spirit and ambition to preserve classical Javanese dance. Sardono and Maruti said this spirit and ambition have never waned, even though her efforts to preserve classical Javanese dance in Jakarta could be likened to a kerosene lamp in a storm.

She has to fight the capital-intensive pop art industry, changes in the community's tastes for everything global and a view that traditional art is old-fashioned.

Although Goenawan Mohamad, a veteran journalist and artist, has referred to Maruti's efforts as a "project to preserve tradition", she continues to develop her career, slowly but surely, at her own rhythm and pace.

Some of her choreographed works include Dawarwulan, Roro Mendut, Savitri, Abimanyu Gugur, Begawan Ciptoning, Kongsodewo, Sekar Pembayun, Palgunadi, Dewabrata and Surapati. Maruti hopes her latest work will create a cool atmosphere, lead to retrospection and arouse the enthusiasm (of the audience) to unite as one nation.

May this kerosene lamp continue to flicker despite the storms.